“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” ~ William Shakespeare Sometimes I’m a little frustrated with my name.  No matter where I look it only seems to refer to a beautiful, exotic, fragrant, night-blooming flower.  My name is Jasmine.  I am not exotic.  I’m a mid-day bloomer.  And I certainly hope I don’t have such a heady odor as my flora counterpart.  My middle name, Nichole, is French for “victory of the people.”  So far, I’m a victorious flower of the people.  My mother named me Jasmine Nichole because she wanted the option to call me something a little cutesy- i.e. Jessy (which she does call me) or Nicky (which we call my dog whose name is Nicholas.)  I always like to hear about how she picked out my name.  She really did think a lot about it, but my mother is also someone who knows what she wants, no matter how much shopping she does.  She wanted something like Jessalyn.  Jasmine can be found in a variety of forms: Persian, Arabic, African, and French.  After some digging, I did find the Arabic meaning of my name: gift from God.  However, most name books and websites will merely insist that I am a flower, and won’t elaborate further.  Because I am a petite Caucasian girl with a tropical name, I have been called every wild version of Jasmine that my friends and acquaintances can think to call me: Yasmin, Yasmeen, Yas-mine, Jas-mine, Yas-mine-ah and Boardgame.  I of course know that Boardgame has nothing to do with the phonetics of my name, but it’s what my choir teacher named me sophomore year because I’ve memorized the monopoly board.    Of all of these, the one I prefer the most is Jasmine.  If said by the right person, I think that my name can be elegant or fun.  My family and close friends call me Jazz or Jazzy.  However, to the general public I prefer Jasmine.  but despite the frustrations that my name meanings present, and lack of exciting racial origins to match my colorful title, I like my name.  It reminds me that it’s not the name that defines the person, but the person who brings meaning to the name.But when it comes to literature, names can often define a character.  I love names.  I look up names for my characters all the time.  I love that a name can sound sinister, innocent, seductive, spunky, or dashing.  Names are the first non-visual impression that people get, and it can say a lot.  For instance, J.K. Rowling does a magnificent job using names to give an immediate impression of characters.  Albus Dumbledore means white bumblebee.  Hearing this name, how could anyone think anything sinister at all about this character?  Dumbledore makes him sound bumbling and cheerful, but Albus sounds intelligent.  However, there is nothing happy or trusting about the name Lord Voldemort, or Lucius Malfoy.  Someday, as a writer, I hope to have the skills with names that Rowling does.  For now, I research names and enjoy their sounds, and experiment with my own characters, while learning from the masters.